Before the first ever season of #EVE_NT Collides, we had a series of showmatches which The Tuskers dominated. Only in their final match were they given an insane nail-biting and back-and-forth series by Waffles, and now big brother has come out to play.

Pandemic Legion

As well as being the capital (and more recently wormhole) boogeyman of New Eden, PL are synonymous with excellence at tournament performance. PL have won 5 of the 13 Alliance Tournaments, the only other alliance winning more than one being Band of Brothers who won 1, 2 and 3.

Where their old nemesis HYDRA RELOADED were known for their extreme piloting and capable theorycrafting, PL were the capable pilots with the extreme theorycrafters, with an unbeaten depth of understanding of the meta. In #EVE_NT Collides, you have to submit your setups to be publicly seen (or at least the hulls) a week before your match, bringing a whole new twist to a team that normally relies on having such a depth of different team lists with variations.

PL are the first old school tournament giant we’ve seen play the Collides format, and as with doctrinal design on Tranquility, they’re likely going to set a new standard that everyone will be scrambling to follow.

The Tuskers

If PL are the old favourites, Tuskers are the up-and-comers. The Tuskers have always been known for excellence in small gang and solo PvP, but they really upped their reputation when they exploded onto the tournament scene with a fourth place finish in ATXII, and then another incredible run in ATXIII.

If this were the Alliance Tournament, I’d say that the Tuskers would be the underdog, a team who could take games from PL but were unlikely to take them in a full series. #EVE_NT Collides, on the other hand, is a different story. Taking away PLs depth of setups down to just five (after bans), and with the Tuskers having flown this tournament format since we started #EVE_NT Collides, they have certainly evened the playing field with that extra experience.

If there is a team of the eight who should scare an old veteran like PL, it’s The Tuskers. This is undoubtedly going to be the highest caliber matches we’ve seen from #EVE_NT Collides. You do NOT want to miss this.

About the author

Apothne is a proud member of Sniggerdly and an experienced roaming FC. He is a Guest FC and Lecturer for EVE University and anyone who invites him to ramble on their comms for a few hours. He is currently one of the most active and experienced player commentators for EVE Tournaments, including hosting and casting AT XII-XV and all #EVE_NT leagues, as well as the Amarr Championships on stage at Fanfest 2016.

memes

I like the part where you said that PL were better theorycrafters than Hydra regardless of the fact that you lost literally every match to warlords this year and only won because of the collusion drama.

Nies

my favorite part is when PL beat hydramel every time they didn’t have a B team to collude with

Zadan Tyvianne

it’s true, someone went through all of Hydra’s AT wins and every time they didn’t have a B team they lost to PL, every time they won the AT they had a B team